Three powerful storms knocked down buildings, uprooted trees and injured at least two dozen people in Springfield as residents took cover during back-to-back tornado warnings.

The storm system, which got its start in Missouri, still packed a wallop when it reached the Chicago area early Monday, peeling roofs off apartment complexes in Bridgeview and collapsing construction projects in Antioch and Prospect Heights.

The National Weather Service said there were as many as 110 tornado touch-downs over the weekend in Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Oklahoma and Arkansas, leaving 10 people dead and thousands of homes damaged.

Springfield was spared loss of life but saw the worst property damage in Illinois with about 1,000 homes, two major shopping areas and hotels getting hit.

"It's just amazing how devastating it is," Mayor Tim Davlin said.

Steel beams holding up billboards next to a secretary of state police building were bent to the ground like the stems of wilted flowers while officials scrambled to protect vital records in the heavily-damaged offices.

At the Capitol, two windows on the Senate Democratic side of the building were blown out and a guard shack was overturned. Water stood several feet deep in at least one underpass, and stoplights at major intersections were inoperable throughout the day. Shiny metal debris the size of a pick-up truck blocked a railroad track.

Public schools and many businesses closed for the day as officials worked to restore power. Gov. Rod Blagojevich surveyed the damage in Springfield on a helicopter then walked through a neighborhood. "The storm bounced off the ground on its path through Springfield and fortunately was able to do that in such a way that prevented the damage from being significantly worse," he said.

He toured the home of Patricia Martin and Bruce Gragg, who showed him the spot in their basement where they huddled as the storm tore off part of their roof and much of their siding. The governor declared seven counties disaster areas--Ford, Greene, Logan, Morgan, Randolph, Sangamon and Scott--and pledged to direct funds to repair efforts.

In southwest suburban Bridgeview, winds ravaged a row of apartment buildings, demolished garages and uprooted giant evergreens in a four-block area. Meteorologists estimated that gusts reached 70 m.p.h. in the town early Monday, ripping roofs off homes and apartments and displacing about 100 residents. Red Cross volunteers provided food and shelter for 30 to 40 people at Village Hall. Officials said they were fortunate no one was seriously hurt in what they called a "microburst," a sudden, violent downdraft of air over a small area.

Two police officers were injured by broken glass while checking the area, roughly Harlem Avenue at 77th Street to 78th and Octavia Avenue.

"They called in a car accident because they didn't know what hit them," Fire Chief Terrence Lipinski said. "I've seen some of the damage out there. It's pretty amazing."

Lipinski said the burst hit about 12:50 a.m. Nine apartment buildings were severely damaged, and the debris forced the shutdown of Harlem Avenue in the morning, he said.

Ruben Hermosillo and his wife, Darleen, had to remove two 30-foot trees that toppled; one crushed the family's Jeep Wrangler.

"We heard this gigantic gust of wind," Ruben Hermosillo said as his gutters continued to whistle.

Mary Ellen Chapa, who lived in one of the damaged apartments, said she had not slept while caring for her daughter, Tina Marie Rodriguez, who is autistic and blind.

"As it happened, I grabbed my daughter and closed the bathroom door," she said at the shelter in the Village Hall. "I am very concerned about her. Sudden things like this kind of upset her. She is already asking me to go back home."

Turbulence continued through the morning. In Antioch, a church addition collapsed, dropping three workers about 20 feet. The most seriously injured was airlifted to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, said Rev. Jeff Brussaly, pastor of Christian Life Fellowship. Gary Wennstrom of GPW Builders said that worker would be hospitalized with broken ribs.

Another worker appeared to have a broken jaw and the third a large bump on his head after a strong gust caused the collapse after 9 a.m., Brussaly said.

"The wind came up out of nowhere," he said. "[The trusses] went down like dominoes."

High winds also were blamed for the collapse of a strip mall under construction at West Palatine and North Elmhurst Roads in Prospect Heights. The walls and roof collapsed about 10:30 a.m., but no one was injured because no work was underway at the time, police said.

In Evanston, police closed off a three-block area after high winds tore materials from a building, injuring a worker and causing the closure of the Davis Street CTA stop.

Winds gusting to more than 40 m.p.h. tore sheets of plywood and foam insulation from the top floors of the Sherman Avenue condominium and shopping development, Deputy Police Chief Joseph Bellino said. A construction worker got stitches at a hospital after he was hit in the head with debris shortly after 9 a.m., Bellino said.